This is my first personal blog. I have been camping for the last week and a half with my family. They know me better than anyone; so to see the change in me as far as my new healthy eating habits, environmental conscientiousness, and political interests was more apparent to them than to anyone else.

I have decided to not be silent when there is something to be learned but to not be obnoxious or act righteously towards anyone who does not feel the same as me. I was surprised at the annoyance and persecution I received from people who love me. First of all, I have been overweight almost all of my adult life and have started eating MUCH differently than I used to. I am also a student at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and have become more informed on issues and opinions that are more like those that I sympathize with so my eating habits have developed into a hybrid form f buying local and organic with less to no red meat. Issues come to mind easier than they use to also.

My nephew bought a package of those new silly bands. They are rubber bands in the shapes of a multitude of things that kids wear on their wrists and trade like the last generations Pokemon or my generation’s D and D or baseball cards. I was wondering on the origin of silly bands and found they are often manufactured in countries that have lower environmental standards than others. I remember reading recently, in a book called The World Without Us, about the amounts of plastic that gets dumped into the ocean (mostly in the form of colored pellets that are melted down to make the products) and I mentioned my curiosity about this to my father who rolled his eyes and said, “Oh my God, will you lighten up!!”. I am sure there are other issues at play between me and family members but that is a whole other kind of blog!

I don’t really want to be seen as “snooty”, or “better than” just because of the truths I have been learning about how close we REALLY are to the 11th hour concerning environmental issues. Is it wrong to want to educate people in a non-obnoxious and factual way when a topic comes up naturally in a conversation? Also though, is it wrong of me to assume that people are willing to hear things from another perspective.

My life is going in a different direction now than it used to be. The language I use will change, the products I consume will be different, the ideas and topics that interest me may not be what you remember being interesting to me. I hope someday the stigma that wanting to be a more responsible human being (in whatever that means to you–spiritually, environmentally, politically) means that you think you are better than or think you a smarter than or righter than others will fade.